2006 Code of Virginia § 3.1-249.27 - Definitions

3.1-249.27. Definitions.

As used in this chapter, unless the context requires a different meaning:

"Active ingredient" means, in the case of a pesticide other than a plantregulator, defoliant, desiccant, or anti-desiccant, an ingredient which willprevent, destroy, repel or mitigate insects, fungi, rodents, weeds, or otherpests.

"Agricultural commodity" means any plant or part thereof, or animal, oranimal product, produced by a person, including farmers, ranchers,vineyardists, plant propagators, Christmas tree growers, aquaculturists,floriculturists, orchardists, foresters, nurserymen, wood treaters not forhire, or other comparable persons, primarily for sale, consumption,propagation, or other use by man or animals.

"Board" means the Pesticide Control Board.

"Bond" means a written instrument issued or executed by a bonding, surety,or insurance company licensed to do business in the Commonwealth, orotherwise approved by the Board, guaranteeing the fulfillment of theagreement between the licensee and the customer.

"Certificate" means the document issued to a certified applicator orregistered technician who has completed all the requirements of Article 3 (3.1-249.51 et seq.) of this chapter.

"Certification" or "certified" means the recognition granted by thePesticide Control Board to an applicator upon satisfactory completion ofBoard approved requirements.

"Certified applicator" means a person who (i) has satisfactorily completedthe Board requirements for certification as a commercial applicator,registered technician, or private applicator, and (ii) has been issued avalid certificate.

"Commercial applicator" means any person who has completed the requirementsfor certification as determined by the Board to use or supervise the use ofany pesticide for any purpose or on any property other than as provided inthe definition of private applicator.

"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

"Committee" or "advisory committee" means any advisory committeeappointed pursuant to 3.1-249.29.

"Defoliant" means any substance or mixture of substances intended forcausing the leaves or foliage to drop from a plant, with or without causingabscission.

"Department" means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

"Desiccant" means any substance or mixture of substances intended forartificially accelerating the drying of plant tissue.

"Device" means any instrument or contrivance intended for trapping,destroying, repelling, or mitigating insects or rodents or destroying,repelling, or mitigating fungi, bacteria, or weeds, or such other pests asmay be designated by the Commissioner, but not including treated woodproducts or simple, mechanical devices such as rattraps, or equipment usedfor the application of pesticide when sold separately therefrom.

"Fumigant" means any substance which by itself or in combination with anyother substance emits or liberates a gas or gases, fumes or vapors, which gasor gases, fumes or vapors, when liberated and used, will destroy vermin,rodents, insects, and other pests.

"Fungicide" means any substance or mixture of substances intended forpreventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any fungi or plant disease.

"Herbicide" means any substance or mixture of substances intended forpreventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any weed.

"Ingredient statement" or "guaranteed analysis statement" means astatement of the name and percentage of each active ingredient, together withthe total percentage of the inert ingredients, in the pesticide; and, inaddition, in case the pesticide contains arsenic in any form, a statement ofthe percentages of total and water soluble arsenic.

"Insect" means any of the numerous small invertebrate animals generallyhaving a body more or less obviously segmented, for the most part belongingto the class Insecta, comprising six-legged, usually winged forms, as, forexample, beetles, bugs, bees, flies, and to other allied classes ofarthropods whose members are wingless and usually have more than six legs,as, for example, spiders, mites, ticks, centipedes, and wood lice.

"Insecticide" means any substance or mixture of substances intended forpreventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any insects which may bepresent in any environment whatsoever.

"Label" means the written, printed or graphic matter on, or attached to,the pesticide or device, or the immediate container thereof, and the outsidecontainer or wrapper of the retail package, if any, of the pesticide ordevice.

"Labeling" means all labels and other written, printed, or graphic matter(i) upon the pesticide or device or any of its containers or wrappers, (ii)accompanying the pesticide or device at any time, or (iii) to which referenceis made on the label or in literature accompanying the pesticide or device,except when accurate, nonmisleading reference is made to current officialpublications of the agricultural experiment station, the Virginia PolytechnicInstitute and State University, the Department of Agriculture and ConsumerServices, the State Board of Health, or similar federal institutions or otherofficial agencies of the Commonwealth or other states when such agencies areauthorized by law to conduct research in the field of pesticides.

"Licensed" or "licensee" means those businesses which, upon meeting therequirements established by the Pesticide Control Board, are issued a licenseto engage in the sale, storage, distribution, recommend the use, orapplication of pesticides in Virginia in exchange for compensation.

"Misbranded" shall apply to any pesticide or device:

1. If its labeling bears any statement, design, or graphic representationrelative thereto or to its ingredients which is false or misleading in anyparticular;

2. If it is an imitation of or is offered for sale under the name of anotherpesticide;

3. If its labeling bears any reference to registration under this chapter;

4. If the labeling accompanying it does not contain directions for use whichare necessary and, if complied with, adequate for the protection of thepublic;

5. If the label does not contain a warning or caution statement which may benecessary and, if complied with, adequate to prevent injury to living man andother vertebrate animals, vegetation, and useful invertebrate animals;

6. If the label does not bear an ingredient statement or guaranteed analysisstatement on that part of the immediate container and on the outsidecontainer or wrapper, if there be one, through which the ingredient statementor guaranteed analysis statement on the immediate container cannot be clearlyread, of the retail package which is presented or displayed under customaryconditions of purchase; provided, that the commissioner may permit theingredient statement to appear prominently on some other part of thecontainer, if the size or form of the container makes it impracticable toplace it on the part of the retail package which is presented or displayedunder customary conditions of purchase;

7. If any words, statement, or other information required by or under theauthority of this chapter to appear on the labeling is not prominently placedthereon with such conspicuousness (as compared with other words, statements,designs, or graphic matter in the labeling) and in such terms as to render itlikely to be read and understood by the ordinary individual under customaryconditions of purchase and use;

8. If in the case of an insecticide, fungicide, or herbicide, when used asdirected or in accordance with commonly recognized safe practice, it shall beinjurious to living man or other vertebrate animals or vegetation, to whichit is applied, or to the person applying such pesticide, excepting pests andweeds; or

9. If in the case of a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant when used asdirected it shall be injurious to living man or other vertebrate animals, orvegetation to which it is applied, or to the person applying such pesticide;provided, that physical or physiological effects on plants or parts thereofshall not be deemed to be injury, when this is the purpose for which theplant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant was applied, in accordance with thelabel claims and recommendations.

"Pest" means any organism that exists under circumstances that make itdeleterious to man or the environment if it is: any vertebrate animal otherthan man; or any invertebrate animal, such as any insect, other arthropod,nematode, or mollusk such as a slug or snail, but excluding any internalparasite of living man or other living animals; or any plant growing wherenot wanted, such as any moss, alga, liverwort, fungus, or other plant of anyhigher order, and any plant part such as a root; or any bacterium, virus, orother microorganisms, except for those on or in living man or other livinganimals and those on or in processed food or processed animal feed,beverages, drugs, as defined in provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, andCosmetic Act at 21 USC 321(g) (i), and cosmetics, as defined in provisionsof the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act at 21 USC 321(i). Any organismclassified as endangered, threatened, or otherwise protected under federal orstate laws shall not be deemed a pest for the purposes of this chapter.

"Pesticide" means: (i) any substance or mixture of substances intended forpreventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any insects, rodents, fungi,bacteria, weeds, or other forms of plant or animal life or viruses orbacterium, except viruses on or in living man or other animals, which theCommissioner shall declare to be a pest, (ii) any substance or mixture ofsubstances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, or desiccant,and (iii) any substance which is intended to become an active ingredient inany substance defined in clause (i) and (ii).

"Pesticide business" means any person engaged in the business of:distributing, applying or recommending the use of a product; or storing,selling, or offering for sale pesticides directly to the user. The term"pesticide business" does not include (i) wood treaters not for hire; (ii)seed treaters not for hire; (iii) operations which produce agriculturalproducts unless the owners or operators of such operations described inclauses (i), (ii), and (iii) are engaged in the business of selling oroffering for sale pesticides, or distributing pesticides to persons outsideof that agricultural producing operation in connection with commercialtransactions; or (iv) businesses exempted by regulations adopted by the Board.

"Plant regulator" means any substance or mixture of substances, intendedthrough physiological action, for accelerating or retarding the rate ofgrowth or rate of maturation, or for otherwise altering the behavior ofornamental or crop plants or the produce thereof, but shall not includesubstances to the extent that they are intended as plant nutrients, traceelements, nutritional chemicals, plant inoculants, and soil amendments.

"Private applicator" means an applicator who uses or supervises the use ofany pesticide which is classified for restricted use for purposes ofproducing any agricultural commodity on property owned or rented by him orhis employer or, if applied without compensation other than trading ofpersonal services between producers of agricultural commodities, on theproperty of another person.

"Registered technician" means an individual who has satisfactorilycompleted Board requirements for certification to apply general usepesticides, and to apply restricted use pesticides while under the directsupervision of a certified commercial applicator. Registered techniciansrender services similar to those of a certified commercial applicator, buthave not completed all the requirements to be eligible for certification as acommercial applicator.

"Registrant" means the person registering any pesticide pursuant to theprovisions of this chapter.

"Repellent" means a substance, not a fumigant, under whatever name known,which may be toxic to insects and related pests, but is generally employedbecause of its capacity for preventing the entrance or attack of pests.

"Restricted use pesticide" or "pesticide classified for restricted use"means any pesticide classified as restricted by the Administrator of theUnited States Environmental Protection Agency.

"Rodenticide" means any substance or mixture of substances intended forpreventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating rodents or any othervertebrate animal which the Commissioner shall declare to be a pest.

"Serious violation" means a violation of this chapter or regulationpromulgated by the Board where there is a substantial probability that deathor serious physical harm to persons, serious harm to property, or seriousharm to the environment could have resulted from the violation unless theperson or licensee did not or could not with the exercise of reasonablediligence know of the violation.

"State special use" or "pesticide classified for restricted use in theCommonwealth" means any pesticide that, after special review, is judged bythe Board to be so hazardous or injurious to persons, pollinating insects,animals, crops, wildlife, lands, or the environment, other than the pests itis intended to prevent, destroy, control, or mitigate, that additionalrestrictions on its sale, purpose, use, or possession are required.

"Under the direct supervision of" means the act or process whereby theapplication of a pesticide is made by a competent person acting under theinstructions and control of a certified applicator who is responsible for theactions of that person.

"Unreasonable adverse effects on the environment" means any unreasonablerisk to man or the environment, taking into account the economic, social, andenvironmental costs and benefits of the use of any pesticide.

"Use" means the employment of a pesticide for the purposes of (i)preventing, destroying, repelling, or mitigating any pest, or (ii) regulatingplant growth, causing defoliation or desiccation of plants. The term "use"shall include application or mixing, and shall include handling or transferof a pesticide after the manufacturer's original seal is broken. The term"use" shall also include any act with respect to a particular pesticidewhich is consistent with the label directions for that particular pesticide.

(1989, c. 575; 1993, c. 773; 1995, c. 103.)